The majority of British Muslims say they have witnessed discrimination against followers of the Islamic faith and that a climate of hate is being driven by politicians and media, a study has found.
Six out of 10 Muslims in Britain surveyed by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said they had seen Islamophobia directed at someone else, up from four in 10 when the survey was first conducted in 2010. Then, half of Muslims said they had not witnessed Islamophobia – a figure that has now crashed to 18%.
Furthermore, feelings of being increasingly demonised and discriminated against are rising, according to the report, which says Muslims suffer physical and verbal abuse, as well as discrimination in the workplace.
The study is based on interviews with 1,780 people and repeats questions asked in 2010.
…. More than two-thirds of Muslims told the survey they had heard anti-Islamic comments by politicians, and half thought politicians condoned Islamophobic acts. Nearly nine out of 10 thought discrimination was driven by the way Muslims are portrayed in media coverage. [The Guardian] Read more
Government policy ‘negatively affects’ Muslims
…. In the latest survey, more than half (58%) said they had been treated with suspicion by society, while 93% said they had seen negative stereotypes of Muslims portrayed in the media.
The research, which was not conducted in the same way as standard opinion polls, also included in-depth interviews with 50 people.
The IHRC has been carrying out research into discrimination against Muslims for nearly two decades.
The report’s author, Arzu Merali, said: “We have an environment now, where Muslim people feel they are suspected and where life is increasingly difficult.
“The impact of government policies, in particular those related with security, have really had an impact on silencing Muslims – not from a point of view of just talking about political issues, but even to report anti-Muslim hatred,” she added. [BBC] Read more
Why is the BBC letting the Islamic Human Rights Commission set the agenda?
The farcically named ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ has featured here many times before. The last time was earlier this year when this Khomeinist group decided to award their ‘Islamophobe of the Year’ award to the murdered staff of Charlie Hebdo.
At their ‘awards ceremony’ for this the IHRC even joked about what a shame it was that none of the staff of Charlie Hebdo were around to collect the award.
Today the IHRC has thrown a smoke grenade into the public debate by issuing ‘findings’ claiming that the UK government’s counter-extremism and counter-terrorism policies are having a ‘negative impact’ on British Muslims. [The Spectator] Read more
Islam Surveyed 